Task 18: Read a Book That Was Adapted Into a Movie. Then Watch The Movie. Debate Which Is Better.

[Sandra]

I've been wanting to see Carol, and apparently it's based on The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith.

[Tina]

I'm going with The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

[Lea]

How strict is the "movie" term do you think? Would a mini series count?
I was thinking of reading Death Comes to Pemberly after someone suggested it in the historical fiction chat because I love the BBC mini series.

[Angela]

I might try Cloud Atlas, as I've had a copy for years!

[Soph]

Ellie wrote: "Soph wrote: "I'm currently reading Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed. Not my usual type of book but as a keen hiker, enjoying it a lot so far, in..."
Just finished! A much better (and different) book to what I originally thought it would be. Let me know what you think of the movie, I live in Japan at the moment so it might be a hard one to track down for me!

[Sarah]

I've decided to go with The Space Vampires - Colin Wilson which was made into the movie Lifeforce. (which I adore). I'm really interested to see how they stand up, pretty sure WIlson hated the movie ...

[Jen]

If the book was adapted into a mini series as opposed to a feature film does that still count? I'm thinking specifically about World Without End since I'm reading it now and definitely plan on watching the mini-series when I'm done.

[Teenie]

I've had Stephan King's Firestarter on my shelves for like 10 years. I guess it finally time to read it. It will be my first King.

[Lauren]

I'm going with a classic and a new film adaptation... Thomas Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd and the 2015 adaptation.

I will probably do this one challenge more than once though. I like reading books before watching the movies!

[sarah]

I just bought Revolutionary Road and I've never seen the Sam Mendes film. Will be an interesting comparison.

[Courtney]

Buzzfeed has a good article with a bunch of the book/film adaptions coming out this year - http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariellecalder...

I'm thinking The 5th Wave or maybe A Monster Calls

[Sarah]

It suddenly occurred to me today that High Rise (adapted from JG Ballard novel) is out this year. That would be a cracking choice I think ...

[Book Riot]

Those asking about a mini-series adaptation: go for it.

[Steve]

Rainey wrote: "I am going to read The Martian. Its been on my TBR pile for awhile."

I really enjoyed both and hope you do as well. Good choice

[Steve]

Dom wrote: "Maybe Never Let Me Go: I've somehow managed to miss both the book and the film up to now..."

I thought the book was truly wonderful but I found the movie to be well below the books level. Like to know what you think once you have completed the task

[Steve]

Kathryn wrote: "I'm going with Room by Emma Donoghue."

I thought the book was excellent, especially the first half of the book. Have not seen the movie yet. Love to know what you think after completing the task

[Steve]

I chose Misery for this task. I always loved the movie, especially Kathy Bates chilling performance as Annie Wilkes. Well after reading the book I have to say the Annie Wilkes in the movie is an angel compared to the book. What a horrific character. Also, I think that Kathy Bates' performance is actually even better after reading the book because she was able to bring elements of humanity to her portrayal that are not in the book. Both the book and the movie are terrific and I highly recommend them both

[Kira]

I read Dark Places and watched the movie a few days later. I preferred the movie, but only because I disliked the book.

[Elle]

I have finished The 5th Wave and now I'm waiting to watch the movie - it releases January 22. Was not overly impressed with the book so I do not have high expectations for the movie because movie adaptations usually don't do their books justice. May wait for it to come out on DVD later this year so i don't have to shell out an exorbitant sum on an actual movie ticket. Will update when I've watched the movie.

[Kristine]

I've just completed my first book of the year and the challenge, The Road to Wellville by T.C. Boyle. Have requested the DVD from the library...looking forward to comparing them.

[Dhruv]

I think I'm going to go with Cloud Atlas for this one.

[Danielle]

If someone wants to go big or go home War and Peace is going to be a mini-series on Lifetime/History channel.

[Trudie]

Kathryn wrote: "I'm going with Room by Emma Donoghue."
Thats such a great book and apparently the film has excellent advanced reviews

[Trudie]

The Book Depository has a list of current books to be made into films this year and from this I was interested in these :
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (film due Oct)
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain (film by Ang Lee Nov)
The Circle by Dave Eggers
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis - have read this and loved it, Lewis makes finance very explainable. Also the film looks very good with Steve Carell, Brad Pitt and Christian Bale ...

[Sarah]

I have a hankering to watch The Prestiege again (which I hated on first viewing, except for David Bowie as Tesla), so I've decided to read the book too.

(and there's still High Rise and The Space Vampires and this is my life now,... )

[Ashley]

Finished this task a few days ago - I read What Dreams May Come after having seen the film several years ago. I must admit, I prefer the film to the novel in this case. Beautiful (and I mean beeeaaauuutiful) cinematography, more appealing characterizations & dialogue, and the story flows a bit better than in the book. I found the character of Chris in the book kind of annoying after a while. Plus, let's be honest - it's Robin freakin' Williams and Cuba Gooding Jr; can't get much better than that!

[Elena]

And...I just picked up a copy of Contact of the sale shelf at the library for 50 cents. I never saw the movie, so now I've got this to look forward to...

[Julia]

I'm about to start The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk by Randy Shilts and I'll watch "Milk."

[Caitlin]

Fulfilled this task by reading And Then There Were None and watching the recent BBC miniseries.

I actually liked both equally--without spoiling too much, the reveal at the end of the book was slightly better than the miniseries, but I enjoyed the miniseries' expanded look at everyone's backstories.

[Bonnie G.]

Trudie wrote: "The Book Depository has a list of current books to be made into films this year and from this I was interested in these :
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (film due Oct)
[book:Billy ..."

Saw The Big Short last month and loved it, but have not read the book. I will have to put it on my TBR.

[Bonnie G.]

Trudie wrote: "Kathryn wrote: "I'm going with Room by Emma Donoghue."
Thats such a great book and apparently the film has excellent advanced reviews"

We saw the movie a few months back, and it was phenomenal. Its rare that I think about a film 4 months after I saw it, but it stayed with me. Really intense! I liked but did not love the book and its really rare for me to like a film better than the book.

[Karin]

I was drawing a blank on this one but Cloud Atlas is a great idea! I have been meaning to read more David Mitchell in 2016.

[Amelia]

I'm going to read The Price of Salt and then watch Carol.

[Varsha]

I've been wanting to read Rebecca for ages so finally decided to get on to it for this challenge. The book is definitely better, but the film is pretty good too primarily for Hitchcock's direction.

[Tiffany]

I read Woodlawn. Loved the movie and the book. Don't understand why they left certain things out of the movie, but that is always the case with books made into movies :)

[Courtney]

Nix wrote: "I'll read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest . Can't believe I haven't done this one yet."

Oh cool!! I have an audio version of that read by Ken Kesey, and it's been so long since I've seen the movie. I just drove by the hospital where it was filmed yesterday. I think I'll read his bio for another task. How serendipitous. Thanks for the inspiration! :)

[Courtney]

Elle wrote: "I have finished The 5th Wave and now I'm waiting to watch the movie - it releases January 22. Was not overly impressed with the book so I do not have high expectations for the movie..."

Same! I did love Cassie, and I think the actress playing her will do justice to her badassery. Plus I love a good disaster scene. I'll watch giant waves take out NYC any day. But I may wait until I can get it from my library. ;)

[Lindsay]

Some articles with ideas:

GalleyCat links to samples of books where last year's movie is now up for an Oscar: http://www.adweek.com/galleycat/the-r...

Publishers Weekly: The 10 Most Anticipated Book Adaptations of 2016

I'm also considering Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, as it's been on my TBR list for years and the movie comes out in February.

[Britt]

I'm reading The BFG - can't wait to see the movie! I read the book once when I was young but I'm looking forward to rereading.

[Belinda]

I just finished Silence of the Lambs, cannot wait to see the movie.

I have One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest on my TBR for some time, may have to read that too.

[Julia]

Belinda,

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is also a play adapted by Dale Wasserman. Just sayin'.

[Barbara]

I think that I'll wind up going with Under the Skin, although, I haven't decided for sure just yet.

I may also wind up doing Inferno. I could use a good popcorn read in my TBR, and there's a movie adaptation slated to come out this year.

[Tracye]

Belinda wrote: "I just finished Silence of the Lambs, cannot wait to see the movie.

I have One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest on my TBR for some time, may have to read that too."

Silence of the Lambs was great about being close to the book!

[Sophia]

For this challenge, I read The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and watched both the 60s and the 90s movie adaptations. SURPRISE! The book was better.

Neither of the movies did much for the story - I know the 90s version is almost universally panned, but that one at least gets a point for capturing the 'nightmare circus house' impression I got from the book. But it ran away with the changes made to the story and ended up a bit ridiculous.

The 60s version was much more atmospheric, however it was also disappointing in the way it added a more blatant romance angle (why?) and gave away a key plot point at the very beginning of the movie. That reveal came later in the book, allowing the tension to build slowly before it hits. And when it does, it makes you question everything you've just read.

[Lindsay]

I did Room for this one.

[Bonnie G.]

Lindsay wrote: "I did Room for this one."

One of the very few times I liked the movie better than the book!

[Katie]

I read The Enchanted April for this one and absolutely adored the book. Picked up the DVD at my library and hoping it does the book justice!

EDIT: The movie is on Netflix too, if anyone is interested in doing this one.

[Ramona]

Lauren wrote: "Daena wrote: "Going with Olive Kitteridge."
Good call. This one has been in my TBR for ages, and I know it's on HBO Go too. Thanks for the reminder!"

I read that around Christmas and am STILL thinking about it. It's a lovely collection of stories, very different and thought provoking. I hope you both love it!

[Ramona]

I'm about 100 pages into The Monuments Men. It alternates between super interesting and a little dry! But I'm going to power through. It's incredibly fascinating stuff!

[Julia]

I finished and loved The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk, but beside Sean Penn's "Milk," there's also a documentary, which won an Academy Award. too, which I'm pretty sure I saw when it came out ~1985, but I should see again.